Jared French Tops American Art / Contemporary Art

Jared French’s Siren brought $138,000; the third highest auction price ever for a Jared French painting.

The top lot in yesterday’s auction of American Art and Contemporary Art was Jared French’s Siren, an egg tempera painting, circa 1945, which remained in the artist’s possession until his death. The richly symbolic work sold for $138,000–the third highest price ever paid for a Jared French painting at auction.

The sale established an auction record for the work of Mary Nimmo Moran, wife of famous Hudson River School artist Thomas Moran. Long Island Landscape, an 1880 oil on panel, was her first painting to appear at auction. It sold for $64,800.

Rounding out the top three lots was another American painting, Thomas Hart Benton’s Landscape, Martha’s Vineyard, oil on paper, circa 1922-24. There were a lot of phone bidders from all over the country, including Martha’s Vineyard, on the painting, which brought $60,000.

A Jasper Johns print, which appeared on the cover of the Contemporary Art catalogue, sold for a record $16,800.